With summer just around the corner, making plans for your child’s summer vacation may be on your mind. The options are vast, and depending on the age and maturity of your child, overnight camp may be up for consideration for this summer.

Four Little Victors, four difficult journeys- one classroom

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Wilkinson Photography: (From left to right) Kaine, Thomas, Maddie and Brody have given their 1st grade classroom the nickname “Miracle Class.”

The first grade class at St. Joseph School has become locally famous in the rural, one-stoplight village of Pewamo.

It’s the classroom of seven-year-old Thomas Kramer, who had his first of three open heart surgeries at three days old. There’s Brody Smith, who began fighting leukemia just as he was learning to talk. Kaine Simon underwent an hours- long surgery on his skull at five months old. And Madeline George’s biggest gift came two days after her first birthday: a new heart.

Their stories are what have earned Mrs. Connie Warczinsky’s classroom in this small town outside of Lansing an affectionate nickname: “The miracle class.”

Rare Disease Week: Preschooler is among the oldest known survivors of prune belly syndrome and Berdon Syndrome

Quinn Avis is much like many five-year-old boys. He loves Cars and Kung Fu Panda. He wants his 8-year-old brother, Desmond, to tackle him like the football players he sees on TV. He enjoys going to the park, and has an infectious ability to make others smile.

But Quinn is also a living miracle. According to his family, he is possibly the oldest known survivor of two extremely rare disorders: Prune belly syndrome and Berdon Syndrome, otherwise known as Megacystis Microcolon Intestinal Hypoperistalsis (MMIHS).

But what about kids who spend long periods of time in hospital rooms, cut off from friends and peers? What about teens who crave even a small sense of normalcy – average teen activities, and even ways to interact with other teens from within the confines of their hospital room? Can “screens” actually be a lifeline in these situations?

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